Do you have something against big cities or do u just prefer small towns? (cows, rake)

[City_boi]

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

I don't think anyone said that small towns didn't have any crime. People, including myself, said they had less crime than big cities and less violent crime.

My aunt's 90-something year old grandmother who lived in a town with less than 60K people was stabbed in broad daylight.

Who are you to say small towns don't have violent crimes? Just because your town doesn't doesn't mean others don't. Sure big cities have more violent crime, but there is way more people. Duh! And not every area of a large city is crime-ridden. There are good, safe areas, and some not so good areas.

I live in a town with a population of about 65,000. My history teacher said it was unusual that he had not seen yellow tape in his neighborhood for three months. One day he was working at the school at night and he heard like 3 gunshots, and this school isn't in the country.

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

Also, those gunshots near the middle school. Those are hunters, not gangbangers. I can't believe that had to be spelled out.

Excuse me! Are you seriously saying this? You have no idea what town I'm talking about so how can you possibly know whether it was hunters or gangbangers. You've got to be kinding me, seriously! Can you not just except the fact that small towns can have violent crime too?!! It could have been hunters but that isn't the impression I got.

[PaperTrail]

Calm. We're just talking here.

Originally Posted by City_boi

Who are you to say small towns don't have violent crimes? Just because your town doesn't doesn't mean others don't.

Again, I didn't say small towns have no violent crime. As I've said (and seemed to try to echo in your reply) it's a matter of the difference in crime levels, not an all-or-nothing approach.

I live in Virginia, and quickly went through and compared cities/towns I believe to be big and ones I consider small. The big cities had murder rates 6.08, 2.16, 0.71 and 0.30 times the national average per capita. A random sampling of small towns, on the other hand, were 0.55 and 0.41 times the national average. The next two I clicked on had zero murders total, making it impossible to turn into a comparison number (0 times the national average?).

I'm basing my comments about small towns having fewer violent crimes on stats such as those. And I like to find per capita comparisons, so that I don't have to have people tell me "duh!" that big cities are, well, bigger.

Originally Posted by City_boi

My aunt's 90-something year old grandmother who lived in a town with less than 60K people was stabbed in broad daylight.

There's a whole 'nother board that debates whether "under 60K" counts as a small town. If you mean closer to 60K than 40K, then that definition may not fit what a lot of people on these boards are perceiving as a small town. Most state governments would consider something that big to be a city.

I'm sorry to hear that something like that took place.

Originally Posted by City_boi

Excuse me! Are you seriously saying this? You have no idea what town I'm talking about so how can you possibly know whether it was hunters or gangbangers. You've got to be kinding me, seriously! Can you not just except the fact that small towns can have violent crime too?!! It could have been hunters but that isn't the impression I got.

You're right, I don't know what small town your talking about, and without you stating it in the first place, it's tough for me to buy into the liklihood that it was crime related. Though you are the one who asked "Does that sound like a crime free small town?" My answer is no. It sounds like hunters.

[Hillman]

In the City the Kids can't bring their Firearms to school.Here where we live next to public Hunting Land it is not uncommon for the kids to go hunting before and after school.They just bring their Guns into the school and the Teacher puts them in a closet until its time to go home.

hillman

[City_boi]

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

I live in Virginia, and quickly went through and compared cities/towns I believe to be big and ones I consider small. The big cities had murder rates 6.08, 2.16, 0.71 and 0.30 times the national average per capita. A random sampling of small towns, on the other hand, were 0.55 and 0.41 times the national average. The next two I clicked on had zero murders total, making it impossible to turn into a comparison number (0 times the national average?).

Well things aren't like that everywhere.

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

It sounds like hunters.

I don't think it was hunters.

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

There's a whole 'nother board that debates whether "under 60K" counts as a small town. If you mean closer to 60K than 40K, then that definition may not fit what a lot of people on these boards are perceiving as a small town. Most state governments would consider something that big to be a city.

Well 60K towns certainly aren't a NYC.

Originally Posted by Hillman

In the City the Kids can't bring their Firearms to school.Here where we live next to public Hunting Land it is not uncommon for the kids to go hunting before and after school.They just bring their Guns into the school and the Teacher puts them in a closet until its time to go home.

hillman

That's just weird.

[NVplumber]

Originally Posted by Hillman

In the City the Kids can't bring their Firearms to school.Here where we live next to public Hunting Land it is not uncommon for the kids to go hunting before and after school.They just bring their Guns into the school and the Teacher puts them in a closet until its time to go home.

hillman

LMAO, those were the days my friend! The OP thinks this is weird. We used to be able to do that here, we just left our rifles or shotguns in our truck racks when we went to school. Funny, we never had a school shooting or any kind of problem. They have recently. Sign of the times? I don't know. Youth issues are not unique to either rural or urban settings. There's more people in the cities so, I guess we hear about their issues more. When something bad happens in the school here it takes about ten minutes before the whole valley knows, we don't have to wait for the paper to come out. There are plenty of druggies and lowlifes out here as well. Thats not specific to urban or rural settings either. We just know who they all are as opposed to them having a large population to get lost in. There have been a few labs busted out in the desert as well. Remote locations appeal to these cretins, but we don't tolerate them when we find them. Nobody has a bit of issue 'getting involved' and no one is scared of these idiots. They are nuts and they are dangerous, but so can we decent folks be as well. Our local SO is death on these clowns. Zero tolerance. It's not as easy to hide out here as the lab runners think it is. Something that is out of place gets noticed. Another benefit of the open spaces. Rural life is not what I grew up with these days. No place is immune from the problems and we don't blame the city folks for the stuff popping up out here. I will go out on a limb and say that our plugged in way of life has something to do with some of the issues. We are not so isolated from such things as we used to be, my sitting at this laptop is proof enough of that. Here I am, in the middle of the desert, talking with folks from all over the place. urban rural and everywhere in between. Plugged in indeed.............

[Ryleigh]

Big cities are not for everyone. Small towns are not for everyone. Rural/farm life is not for everyone. People are trying to tell you why THEY prefer small towns or rural life. No one is trying to tell you that your differing opinion is wrong. In fact, most are being exceedingly patient with you even as you berate them. I'm glad to see you're calming down.

Why are you even on this part of the forum if it's not for you? Are you just here to pick a fight?

For what it's worth, I am one of the nature lovers who enjoys waking up to birds singing and donkeys braying. After living in Virginia Beach, Va., for 7 years and commuting to Norfolk, Va., every day, it's refreshing not to hear bass or feel claustrophobic in my neighborhood or deal with traffic or drug-dealing neighbors or prostitutes or panhandlers. When I lived that life, I had panic attacks that sent me to the hospital. Since I moved to the country about 2 years ago, I haven't had one yet. My new neighbors' kids play outside in the fresh air. Other neighbors give us fresh homegrown cucumbers, and I give them my tomatoes. One even stopped to help me catch my pony when she broke the fence, and he didn't even know us yet. Now please, don't anyone twist my words: I never said that a neighbor in a big city wouldn't stop to help you out. It was my experience in a very densely packed suburban neighborhood that my neighbors were, for the most part, jerks with no regard for others.

Are there things I miss about living in a city? Sure! Just last week I missed two awesome concerts in a row in my old city, acts that have never come to this general area. I miss the beach, for sure. I miss going out for drinks after work. But where I moved is only 25 minutes from a small city (92,000) that has a ton of restaurants, a couple of museums and theaters, cinemas, art galleries, etc.

I can do most everything I did before, but I can also breathe. I can get space here. For me, the noises of the country are relaxing -- and yes, it can be loud sometimes, with tractors, donkeys, birds, etc. People might be surprised. Oh, and the neighbors' 4-wheeler and dirt bikes -- those will send me indoors where I can't hear them.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by City_boi

What I am trying to say is that you have some stereotypes that are simply not true. No crime in small towns? You need to get out more. There may be little crime in your town, but it certainly isn't like that in every small town across the US. I mean seriously. You have this idea that in every small town you can leave your house unlocked and have nothing stolen. That is not true for all small towns. I have a cousin who went to middle school in a small town and on the first day he said that they told them not to be alarmed by the sound of gunshots? Does that sound like a crime free small town? I think not.

For trying to simply say that I hold stereotypes that are not true, you sure are unwilling to see the stereotypes of small towns that you hold and are untrue. I get "out" plenty, I am willing to bet, more than you do. I've been to every city in the US that is over 200,000 and most that are over 100k; I lived in cities that the Metro areas are well into the millions. I have also lived in tiny towns of a couple hundred people, small towns of a couple thousand, and towns of 20,000+. These have ranged from Texas to far Northern Maine and in several places between. Every single small town I have lived in has been about the same for crime stats. In every single one of them when I bought or rented a house, the owners had a difficult time finding the keys for the house because they just were not used.

Gunshots in a small town? No **** Sherlock. A lot of rural schools have shooting teams just like Football teams and basketball teams. I've been to schools where they had a complete shooting range behind the school and the community could use it whenever the school wasn't. Rural schools are also close to woods and hunting areas. Unless you are talking of a "small town" that actually blends into a big city area. Those are no better than the city and neighborhood they are attached to, and are NOT indicative of stand alone small towns across the US.

This is the exact response I expected from you. The original question wasn't asked in an honest attempt to get answers, but instead to have an opportunity to argue and belittle those of us who choose to live in small town America. So far you have accused people of not being open to those who choose to live in big cities, then in the next figurative breath you are bashing the choice to live in a small town, and giving isolated incidences of why everything we are posting about small towns just cannot possibly be true. Don't bother arguing, you have shown your inability to see past your own tightly held stereotypes of country/small town living.

[NVplumber]

I am kinda wondering, myself, where all this is heading. The OP has been answered, quite well in my view. I fail to see how attacking certain peoples answers accomplishes anything. This urban/rural stereotyping thing has been done to death, truthfully, and I do have to wonder why a city guy would come onto this board, ask the question, and berate the answers. Ah well, think I'll go feed the horses.

[City_boi]

Originally Posted by Bydand

In every single one of them when I bought or rented a house, the owners had a difficult time finding the keys for the house because they just were not used.

Hmm, well I would not feel comfortable leaving my house unlocked in many of the small towns I've been to. Maybe all the small towns around where I live suck, I don't know. But I don't see what would make people in small towns any less likely to do violent crimes. (I am not saying that everyone in a small town is going to do crime, I'm just saying people are people and there can be crime anywhere unless the town is some upscale, wealthy town.) Anyway, while large cities can have sections of crime, that doesn't mean that there aren't safe areas as well.

Originally Posted by Bydand

Gunshots in a small town? No **** Sherlock. A lot of rural schools have shooting teams just like Football teams and basketball teams. I've been to schools where they had a complete shooting range behind the school and the community could use it whenever the school wasn't. Rural schools are also close to woods and hunting areas.

What you said could be true but that is not the impression I got from my cousin at all. Plus, it was a middle school. They'd let 6th, 7th and 8th graders shoot guns? And I think the school is in town.

Originally Posted by Bydand

This is the exact response I expected from you. The original question wasn't asked in an honest attempt to get answers, but instead to have an opportunity to argue and belittle those of us who choose to live in small town America. So far you have accused people of not being open to those who choose to live in big cities, then in the next figurative breath you are bashing the choice to live in a small town, and giving isolated incidences of why everything we are posting about small towns just cannot possibly be true. Don't bother arguing, you have shown your inability to see past your own tightly held stereotypes of country/small town living.

Besides thinking it is weird that kids go to school with guns and that a town has a communal outhouse, I have NOT belittled people for living in small towns. You think I started this thread because I look down on small towners, while in fact I started this thread because I got the impression that small towners look down on city-goers like me. I NEVER bashed anyone for choosing to live in a small town. If I did, I would like you to show me the quote and I will gladly apologize. I said that I would hate to know everyone in town and I can see how that could come off as bashing. For that I apologize. I was just saying that many small towners hate how you don't know everyone in a city and that many people would hate to know everyone. Anyway, I may be saying all of this stuff about crime in a slightly belittling way, but it is because I know that not all small towns are perfect and crime-free .I was trying to do was get rid of the stereotypes that all cities are crime-ridden and that all small towns are friendly and safe. It's not that black and white. I am not denying that cities have crime, and I am not denying that a small town can be friendly and safe. I am just saying that you can't be naive and think that cities are always one way, while small towns are always another way. There are many variables and gray areas. I started this thread to stop stereotypes and am now being accused of holding a stereotype because I tried to put an end to a streotype that all small towns are safe. I see my attempt has failed.

[City_boi]

oops, double post.